The President's Last Bang (2005)
"Geuddae geusaramdeul" (original title)

A look at the life of President Park Chung-hee and the events leading up to his assassination.

Director:

Sang-soo Im

Writer:

Sang-soo Im

Stars:

Jae-ho Song, Suk-kyu Han, Yun-shik Baek

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jae-ho Song	...	President Park Chun-hee
Suk-kyu Han	...	KCIA Chief Agent Ju
Yun-shik Baek	...	KCIA Director Kim
Won-joong Jung	...	President's Chief Bodyguard Cha
Sang-geon Jo
Sang-ho Kim	...	KCIA Agent Jang
Byung-gil Kwun	...	President's Chief Secreatry Yang
Jae-goo Lee	...	KCIA Agent Kwon
Seong-wook Kim
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sang-gun Cho	...	KCIA Safehouse Caretaker Shim
Dong-Hoon Choi	...	Army surgeon
Won Yung Chung
Eun-ji Jo	...	Banquet Guest
Sang-kyun Jo
Jong-jun Jung

Storyline

On October 26, 1979, President Park Chung Hee, who had ruled South Korea since a 1961 coup, was assassinated by Kim Jae Kyu, his director of intelligence. The film depicts the events of that night, with a coda about the fate of each conspirator. While Park dines in the Blue House with two associates and two young women, Kim carries out his plot. He talks briefly of bringing democracy; mostly he seems irritated. The other assassins seem without motive beyond following orders. The killings are bloody, the aftermath equally disorderly and haphazard. Can major events of history be so mundane, so nearly comic?

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Plot Keywords:

president | assassination | democracy | topless female nudity | toilet | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [kr]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Japanese Korean

Release Date:

3 February 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The President's Last Bang

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,862 (USA) (14 October 2005)

Gross:

$5,932 (USA) (25 November 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MK Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

President's Park Chun-hee's son took the film-makers to court to block the release as he claimed it tarnished the image of his father.

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Goofs

Chief Ju is seen driving a Renault 19 that wasn't released until 1988.

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.3 (2011)

User Reviews

Solid Suspenseful Entertainment

I saw this recently at the Toronto International Film Festival to a packed house with the director present. I liked it.

It comes across as a fictionalized account of the events leading up to the the 1979 president's assassination. It was believable, suspenseful, and occasionally funny, if you can imagine that! This was the work of someone who really cared to bring a defining historical moment into the modern psyche, to raise some important questions about Korean society.

In my mind, this is what movies should be about -- defining moments of time. And crafting a story that allows the viewer to be drawn into the circumstances, to be shown a view of how things may have happened without being dogmatic or overly judgmental. Kudos to the director to crafting an even-keeled drama that, I suspect is accessible to a large international audience.